BASEBALL; Owners, in an 18-9 Vote, Ask Vincent to Resign

Major league club owners, by a vote of 18 to 9, said today they did not have confidence in Fay Vincent as a commissioner who could move baseball forward "effectively and constructively" and asked him to resign immediately.

Vincent, who did not attend the meeting at which he and his performance as commissioner were debated, was informed of the owners' resolution by Bill White, the National League president. Shortly afterward, he issued a statement from New York saying he would not resign.

In a five-page letter to the owners two weeks ago, the commissioner said, "I will not resign -- ever." In his statement last evening, he said, "I affirm that decision today." His term runs through March 31, 1994.

Much of the opposition to Vincent has its origin in economic issues.

Some owners want to a take hard-line position with the players union and know Vincent would not support such a move. Some are unhappy with the way he divided up $190 million in expansion fees between the two leagues. And the Tribune Company, owner of the Chicago Cubs and a television superstation, is particularly resentful of Vincent's efforts to reduce the impact of superstation broadcasts.

Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox, one of Vincent's earliest and fiercest opponents, said the owners did not discuss today what they would do if Vincent refused to resign. However, it is very likely that if he doesn't accede to the majority's wishes, his opponents will try to fire him at a meeting in St. Louis next week.

Neither Reinsdorf nor anyone else said that they would take that step next, but the White Sox owner noted that today's specially called meeting would be reconvened in St. Louis at 11 a.m. next Wednesday. That would be before the regularly scheduled league meetings later that day and before the owners meet jointly in their regular quarterly meeting the following day, a meeting the commissioner usually chairs.

Asked if Vincent would conduct the joint meeting, Reinsdorf said, "If he still is the commissioner on the 10th of September, when the regular meeting is called, then he will run the meeting."

Reinsdorf said of today's vote that for "the first time, the commissioner knows how many clubs want him to step down; the commissioner has some serious thinking to do."

Vincent, however, already has done his thinking, setting the stage for a pitched battle. Some of the 18 Might Drop Out

It is not known if all 18 owners who voted against Vincent today would support a move to fire him. Some may be deterred by the threat of a long and messy legal battle. Vincent, who contends he cannot be fired, has said he would fight an attempt to dismiss him all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

Some of Vincent's supporters among the owners had been skeptical his opponents could muster enough votes to ask him to resign or fire him. But some owners who had been viewed as uncommitted apparently were swayed by the number of clubs that spoke against him at today's three-and-one-half-hour meeting.

Among the clubs that were pivotal in the vote were the expansion Colorado Rockies, the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners, three teams that had been described as uncommitted. The owners of those clubs did not discuss their views afterward, but at least in some of the cases, they were most likely swayed by the already sizable opposition to the commissioner.

The vote was conducted by secret ballot, but also joining the opposition to Vincent, according to other owners, were the Atlanta Braves and the Detroit Tigers. The Braves had previously been thought to support Vincent. The Tigers' new owner, Mike Ilitch, who took over only a week ago, described himself then as uneducated on the issues but said he planned to speak with people from both sides.

Those 5 clubs joined with 13 that had been known to oppose Vincent: the Yankees, the Cubs, the White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the California Angels, the San Francisco Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Minnesota Twins, the Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Voting against the resolution were the Mets, the Houston Astros, the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox, the Oakland Athletics, the Texas Rangers, the Montreal Expos, the expansion Florida Marlins and the Kansas City Royals.

Marge Schott, the Cincinnati Reds' owner, left before the vote took place.

"Of course, it is disappointing that a significant number of owners has expressed a lack of confidence and asked for my resignation," Vincent said in his statement.

"I appreciate the confidence of those supporting me," he added. "In my letter of Aug. 20, 1992, I informed the owners that I would not resign and I affirm that decision today. I believe strongly that a baseball commissioner should serve a full term as contemplated by the Major League Agreement; only then can difficult decisions be made impartially and without fear of political repercussions."

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In the resolution that was adopted at the meeting at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, the owners said baseball needed "strong and consistent leadership" in the next several months as it deals with "the crucial issues of franchise stability, television and broadcast contracts, labor negotiations and action on the forthcoming report of the Economic Study Committee."

They also cited the need for a commissioner who can "build a consensus on the fundamental issues facing baseball, who can demonstrate vision and objectivity and who can manage relationships with outside parties important to the success of baseball."

The 18 owners also said they would not vote for Vincent's re-election. The 54-year-old Vincent has been commissioner since Sept. 13, 1989, having succeeded the late A. Bartlett Giamatti. Vincent had been Giamatti's deputy commissioner.

White and American League President Bobby Brown called today's meeting at the request of some owners in each league. They acted under a provision of the Major League Agreement after Vincent denied their request to call a meeting of all the owners to discuss his status.

Vincent told the presidents such a meeting would be unlawful and contrary to the Major League Agreement because the owners would be discussing the term and duties of an incumbent commissioner, not a future commissioner. The Major League Agreement, he wrote in a letter dated Aug. 20, prohibits such discussions.

Because the commissioner did not attend today's session, the owners elected Paul Beeston, president of the Blue Jays, chairman of the meeting. A Vincent supporter said the opposition was "very well organized," down to Beeston's election.

Douglas Danforth of the Pirates presented the resolution at the outset of the meeting and spoke first. All of the owners had an opportunity to speak. The opponents came with prepared statements.

The Yankees brought up the commissioner's investigation and disciplining of George Steinbrenner and his summoning of three Yankee officials to his office to discuss their testimony in the Steve Howe grievance hearing.

Afterward, Peter Widdrington of the Blue Jays called it an "evaluation" meeting, adding: "That's what we did, evaluate his performance. On the basis of our evaluation, we felt we would support the resolution."

"We have a lot of economic problems in the game and I don't think the leadership is where it should be," Bill Giles of the Phillies said. "The sooner he resigns the better."

Besides voting to ask Vincent to resign, the owners, in the same seven-paragraph resolution, directed the executive council, which is an advisory body to the commissioner, to appoint a committee to study the restructuring of the commissioner's role and to have the committee's recommendations no later than Nov. 1.

Some owners want the commissioner to serve as a chief executive officer who would report to a board of directors made up of the 28 owners.

Under that structure, the commissioner would not have the broad powers most of the baseball commissioners have had in the last 70 years. In a 1977 court case, a judge ruled that the owners had given the commissioner boundless authority. But in the Cubs' lawsuit against Vincent this summer, a judge ruled that the commissioner had exceeded his authority and he granted the Cubs a preliminary injunction blocking Vincent's ordered realignment of the National League.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld the 1977 decision. Vincent has appealed the decision in the Cubs' suit to the same court.

The urgency to try to get Vincent out of office, at least in some owners' minds, is tied to their negotiating strategy for the next collective bargaining agreement with the players.

Either side can reopen the labor contract by Dec. 10, and some owners favor that approach. But they also want to take a militant stance with any proposals they make and perhaps lock out the players next spring if the players don't accept the proposals. Some of the owners feel they will not be able to pursue that strategy if Vincent remains as commissioner.

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A version of this article appears in print on September 4, 1992, on Page B00007 of the National edition with the headline: BASEBALL; Owners, in an 18-9 Vote, Ask Vincent to Resign. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe